Graphic Novel Spotlights
Black Wealth Before 1921
Tulsa Massacre
Producer / PNS
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - (PNS) - 8/21/2021 - A
graphic novel illustrated by a University of Illinois professor aims
to serve as a primer for young people to learn about the history of
the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, often known as Black Wall
Street, destroyed by a white mob in 1921.
It's called "Across
the Tracks: Remembering Greenwood, Black Wall Street, and the Tulsa
Race Massacre," by Alverne Ball of Joliet.
Stacey
Robinson, assistant professor of graphic design at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, illustrated the book. He said it is
about the destruction, but also the rebuilding, of the city, and the
survivors that to this day are still seeking justice.
"The
weight of this subject matter is balanced by very beautiful, very
opulent colors, and there's joy in the book as well," Robinson
remarked. "American history did not happen in black and white;
it did not happen in sepia tones. I wanted the audience to feel this
Black beauty, to feel the opulence of this town."
Survivors
and descendants of the Tulsa Race Massacre are calling on the JusticeDepartment to launch an investigation and help find the mass graves
of hundreds of Black residents who were killed. They said they do not
trust local and state officials to handle the remains with
compassion, or to meaningfully investigate the deaths.
Robinson
noted in Tulsa before 1921, it is said dollars circulated more than
20 times before leaving the Black community, which is a key component
of wealth-building. He argued kids and teens should be aware of the
history to help understand the racial wealth gap that exists today.
The net worth of the average white family is ten times more than the
average Black family.
"If you know Black Panther,
there's the nation of Wakanda, right? Well, Black people have had our
Wakandas, we've had our Black liberated, autonomous spaces,"
Robinson explained. "And when we have these spaces, they are
destroyed because we are Black and affluent."
Robinson
added while the Tulsa Race Massacre is not often taught in schools,
more and more people are learning about it with its 100-year
anniversary. He noted the HBO series Watchmen and Lovecraft Country,
set in Tulsa, are also boosting awareness, and hopes the graphic
novel can serve as another entry point.
References:
Letter Justice for Greenwood 08/13/2021
Wealth gap report Brookings Institution 02/27/2020
Story credit: Public News Service.
